Stars and stripes

This did not start out patriotic at all.   Even thought it DID turn out that way.  Sort of.  I bought the Fat Quarters from Connecting Threads WAY back when, with my Father In Law in mind.   He loves Blue.

That is the unfinished version.   I didn’t get real good pictures of it finished!!   Except this..

I put a pocket in this….Father In Law likes to keep his feet warm when he’s in the recliner! 

The kids personalized it. 

This poor quilt was supposed to be just big stars.   No stripes.   But I stopped sewing with 6 blocks left.  When I got back to it, I FORGOT that I had already hacked of the fat Quarter to make it square.   Oops.   SO I had to add the log cabin-ish piece to get them up to size.   And you know what??   I LOVE IT!!

There is no OOPS in quilting—-simply an opportunity to do something different!!

BrownEyed Boy loves it too!!

peace and pieces,
amy

t-shirt quilt.

There was a horrible tragedy in my little community. 

I won’t go into details, but I will show the t-shirt quilt I threw together.  A friend showed up here with a stack of shirts and said HELP. 

She kept my house and kids, and I sewed.  Somehow, God guided my hands.   Not a single mistake was made; no flubs; it was perfect.

And in 6 hours, the grieving family had something to hold. 

Please keep this family in your prayers.  And go hug your babies.  You never know when a freak accident will take your loved ones.

peace and pieces,
amy

Not Your Ordinary Nine Patch

Who knew the plain ole boring nine patch could be transformed into THIS??!

Meet Halo, a milk cow.   The gentleman who ordered her also ordered the Golden Gator several years ago. 

I tried to replicate Halo perfectly, and I THINK I did a decent job. 

Before I washed her, the face had a lot more definition.   I’m kinda bummed about that.

But the bag came out pretty good!

I appliqued parts of curving areas to show the clouds and the green meadow. 

Most of the green curves ended up underneath Halo, but the clouds came out!!

I will have delivered this by the time the post goes live.   I sure hope it’s well received.   I’m showing the Guild tonight.

Up close shots of the quilting…..Pebbles in the clouds,

swirls in the sky,

and daisies in the grass.

I LOVE my longarm!

Don’t forget the Subscriber Giveaway HERE

peace and pieces,
amy

Pink Elephant stuffie and wall hanging

Remember LAST year when I did that flannel baby suite??  Go here for a refresher.

Well, I TOTALLY forgot that I said I’d make a wall hanging.   Char has been SO patient!!

I’m lucky she’s a friend!!   

And to say I’m Sorry, AND Happy Birthday…..

…how about a tiny stuffed elephant???!!

It is based on the tutorial by BustleAndSew, but I had some issues and kind of freeformed it.  

I sure hope Amy loves her new critter.

I know I had a blast making it!!   And I’d like to make a few more.   I imagine they’d sell at the craft fair. 

peace and pieces,
amy

a rag throw, and a quilt top

16 half yards, and squares of batting.  SUPER wonky quilting for extra preteen interest, and there ya go!!

The back is great too, even if I DID get 2 fabrics next to each other.   LOL  oops. 

I will have a free tutorial up later this week to show you how I did it.

I also got some mail today!!   A friend got this at an Amish Auction for $17!

Awesome, isn’t it??   It’s not hand pieced, so I feel great putting it on the Long Arm to finish it off.   It has some interesting scraps in it.  Here I see Halloween and July 4th in the same block!

And the baseball is fairly new, but the rose print on the right looks fairly old. 

This is going to be so fun to quilt up.  The client wants purple.   Think I should go with a dark purple and make sure it pops, keeping motifs in their places, or should I do a lighter lavender?   Or even grey?   It will be purple on the back and the binding.  Let me know what you think!

peace and pieces,
amy

Petal Power and Pretty Paisley

I knew a girl in college….we were in different circles, but lived in the same dorm.   She became pregnant with twin girls.   What should have been all happy moments turned scary.  They were born early.  VERY early.  28 weeks.

God gave me this gift,  and sometimes I HAVE to use it.  Even when I have a million other projects I SHOULD be doing.   Those girls, and Mommy and Daddy, need to know that someone else cares.  One gets my FAV pattern…the Carpenters Square.  

With my fav flower (the daisy) quilted into it. 

The other gets an All Paths adaptation (an original pattern).

and my fav girly quilting pattern (peacock feathers). 

And my little butterfly snuck in there!!  LOL   Add some zebra binding, and you got a really cool HipHop style quilt!

I also threw in 2 “scent dolls” made of minkie. 

I had planned on this being the back, but the quilting looked SOOOO good on the black flannel that I couldn’t cover it up. 

Meh—-the picture didn’t show up real well.  Trust me on that!!!

Now just do me a favor.   Say a little prayer for Bella and Bristol.  And for their parents.   Thanks.

peace and pieces,
amy

The Green Monster

Crazy idea, but someone asked me to make this quilt.  A pixilated version of a video game creature.  

It’s not my favorite style–I tend to be more traditional–but I admit this is still really cool!

I did a geometric/linear meander in the green…

and squiggly tight meander in the black.   I was trying to make it stand out a bit more.  NOW I wish I’d switched threads.  But I didn’t think about it at the time. 

I’m also super psyched at with the new Canon we bought.  These pics are INDOORS!   Still not as good as outdoor, but since it’s still rainy and nasty, I’ll take what I can get.  Special thanks to my amazing photographer Melonie, for telling me what setting to put it on!

And LOOK at my new gorgeous floors!   I am in love!

All of these pics are taken BEFORE it has had it’s bath.  It will be even more amazing once it’s nice and crinkly!!

peace and pieces,
amy

Shades of Camo

I’m humbled and awed by the response I’m getting concerning Stitches and Kisses New Venture.   If you missed the announcement, go take a peek!  And if you’re looking for the giveaway, it’s here.

Now, the last BIG Christmas order is DONE.

Talk about a modern take on a vintage block, huh? 

The pictures STINK, because we had nasty rain again.  I hate taking them indoors.  Do you know how hard it is to find grey solids locally?   I knew I should have ordered from Kona directly.  Oh well.   2 shades of grey,2 black, and 2 white.  It worked.

A meander to mimic the camo print, and echoing in the churndash itself.

It really looked cool!   I was scared to work with camo again, but it worked just RIGHT!

Even a cool back!  I didn’t quilt as heavily as some of my other quilts, so I was a tad worried about the crinkle factor.   But….

…Yup!!   It still worked nice!!

The clients already gave it to their son.   (grin) Apparently, it was a HUGE hit!

peace and pieces,
amy

 

 

Sportlov Sussi (Skating Sue Swap)

Yes, she came!  Look at her!!!!  Isn’t she awesome?  And ALL the way from SWEDEN!   I know, I know, I shipped to Australia–why shouldn’t I get an international Sue in return.   But still….I was surprised!

Look at the “fur” detail on the hood!

Awesome word fabric.   I assume it’s a foreign language, but not really sure!  It’s not English, that’s for sure!  LOL

The tiny wonky log cabins-I keep seeing this but havn’t tried it yet.   They are so cute and quirky-I really ought to try it.

Even the label is awesome!   She paid SUCH attention to the details.

AND I even got extra goodies!!   Chocolate, salted licorice (I can’t wait to try that!) floss, a moose medallion, and some scrap fabrics.  The hedgehog print is to DIE for!   I’m trying to figure out what to do with it.  Maybe some Wonky Log cabins with the scraps?!  Could make a great mini for spring!!!

Getting the envelope totally made my day.   I stopped the mail lady on my way out because I was expecting a box from Connecting Threads.   It was supposed to rain and I didn’t want it left on the porch.   She handed me this envelope first.   When I saw that it was from Sweden, I screamed!!   I am a tad ashamed to admit this,  but I sounded like a preteen at a boy band concert!  The mail lady laughed as I tore into the envelope and showed off the quilt. 

See?   Told you I tore into it!!   So go take a peek at Lizzie’s blog, at Swedish Scrapper.   I just spent some time there myself.  She has these teeny tiny log cabin blocks, and an amazing New York Beauty doll quilt.   Very talented woman!  Thank You again, Lizzie!!!  I LOVE my Sportlov Sussi!!!!(by the way, she says that is roughly translated into Winter Break Sussi)

And don’t forget to drop into The Quilting Gallery–this is where all the swaps and blog hops are!   Another blog hop with giveaways will start on December 10th!

I think the Brown Eyed Boy is finally asleep.   Back to Jemma the Long arm, and the 50 Shades of Camo quilt!

peace and pieces,
amy

 

Quilts for Christmas

Once again, the Moda 4Squared pattern comes to my aid.  The swirl pattern is meant to mimic the border print.

The flamingos, rose, and other large blocks are from t-shirts.

Check out this border!   Isn’t it gorgeous??   It’s on the back, too.

And Brother has one to match.

Look at the geometric quilting on this!  It came out far better than I imagined it would.

I wish I had full length pictures, but the rain made everything really gross.   I can’t risk ruining the quilts.   Labels go on today during Art Class, and they will go in the mail this week.  YAY!

Only a few more projects to go!

peace and pieces,
amy